


Project: (Unusual) Friend

by SomePiece



Category: One Piece
Genre: 2nd person POV, Alternate Universe - Collage, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Collage, Dark Humor, Developing Friendships, Friendship, Gen, Mentions of Death, forensic scientist Law
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-17 06:41:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28720674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomePiece/pseuds/SomePiece
Summary: By accident you end in one group with eccentric and scary student from a different specialisation. But in a weird way you two seem to click with each other the very first time you talk.
Relationships: Trafalgar D. Water Law & Original Character(s), Trafalgar D. Water Law & Reader, Trafalgar D. Water Law & You
Kudos: 11





	Project: (Unusual) Friend

Flashing of the diode on your phone was driving you crazy. Obviously, you could just finally open that notification, but you somehow couldn’t bring yourself to do it. You knew exactly what it was: a message from Ikkaku if you saw the new schedule. Oh, you definitely saw it. And that’s why your mood was shitty in the first place.

Your specialisation was small - too small to be profitable for your school - so since the very first term, whenever there was an opportunity for your classes to be shared, you had been flipped from one group to another. Sometimes it wasn’t that bad: a class you had been attending was an amalgam of few small specialisations like yours. All students had been in the same situation, it was an easy common ground and no one was treated like a pariah. Mostly, however, it was hell: the character of your studies forced you to take a lot of classes with students of medical fields. For whom you and your peers were like intruders, weird outgrowth that is better to be ignored (in better case) or to be jeered (in, unfortunately, more common case). But it still wasn’t the worst possible outcome you could imagine. You more or less got used to your unwilling status of a parasite - and medicine students you had had your theoretical anatomy classes last term got used to your presence, even tolerating it by the end. But this term you were supposed to take practical ones, in the dissecting room, so the group had to be divided into smaller ones. And as if the prospect of spending every friday through next few months with dead people wasn’t frightening enough, you had just learnt this time you were going to be mixed with students of forensic science.

Who, to put it slightly, didn’t have the best opinion around.

It wasn’t about their specialisation, even if indeed various gossip were spread around. People who were interested in crime and death never had a good reputation, as if their connection to the so-called other side and darkness was rejecting the others. You hadn’t dropped that low to share such superstitions, but indeed there was some unrest lingering in your thoughts whenever you heard of them. Those, though, were easy to be brushed aside. Which you couldn’t do with experience you already had with them. They were a strange group of quirky individualists, attracting troubles like a magnet and hanging back from the rest. Not that there were many willing to initiate a contact, though, you including. There was something in them that was telling you to back off.

Especially in the leader of their group, that tall and lanky tattooed guy who had murder and lack of sleep in his weirdly golden eyes. The thought of spending classes among dead bodies and with his piercing gaze on your back was sending shivers down your spine and triggering all flight responses.

Your phone vibrated so violently it almost fell from the desk. You caught it at the last moment, a glimpse of a message on an unlocked screen (ah, those fingerprints readers) immediately caught your attention. _I’m sorry only you stayed so-_ **  
**

What?

You read the sentence in disbelief. _I’m sorry, only you stayed, so we gave them your email._

You’ve never typed so fast in your life, _Only I stayed? What’s going on?_

_You ignored the group chat, did you?_

Shortly after, another message pinged, _There’s a project to do, in groups of 5. They needed one person and you weren’t here when we chose ours so - good luck._

Oh, you indeed needed luck. First contact Mr. Lanky Murder - as you named the characteristic forensic science student in your head - wasn’t as bad as you feared, you had to admit that. Email exchange was short and dry, but you could tell he’s specific and organised. He proposed to meet before the first class to get the group to know each other - “Don’t expect someone other than me to come though, they are slacking whenever they can.” - and to compare the notes. With your heart in your mouth, you grabbed all the data you gathered through theoretical classes and headed towards the location he proposed. Student canteen sounded reasonable. Not too crowded but not too isolated, cheap and neutral. The coffee sucked less than others in similar price and they had quite tasty sandwiches. If you were about to die from a hand or Mr. Lanky, then at least you would die with your wallet and stomach full. **  
**

Your good mood and positive energy died out once you saw him waiting. From close he looked even more intimidating. He was tall; not the tallest you had seen, but his leanness was making him visually longer. He was hunching over his coffee and notes, his head resting on his tattooed hands (as the sleeves of his hoodie were rolled, you could see more tattoos peeking from his forearms). He didn’t care to take the hat off, so at least you were spared from his eyes. However, the shadow covering his serious and sour face was somehow making it worse. 

You cleared your throat, to grasp his attention and rise your spirit.

“Hey, I’m (Name), remember? We’re going to-”

“Law”, he interrupted you and offered you a hand. “Trafalgar Law, third year, forensic science. Tho, I suppose you already know that one.”

You plopped yourself on the chair in front of him and smashed your notes on the table, almost spilling his coffee. 

“What?” He frowned and grinned in the same time, a truly weird whim sending shivers of anxiety down your spine. “You’re not going to shake my hand?”

“Ah, sorry!” His grasp was surprisingly strong for a person his weight. You still could feel every single bone though and his hand was trembling, as if a nervous twitch was bothering him. 

“Alright, before we start working-” Trafalgar Law clearly enjoyed himself in this situation and the more you were fidgeting under his speculative gaze, the more blast you could see in his eyes. They reminded you of a cat. A nasty and evil cat. “-maybe let’s clarify some things. You look as if you wanted to shit your pants and this is the last thing I want happening here.”

“No, we’re not satanists”, he started as you didn’t use the moment of silence he left for you to answer. “We’re not murderers, we will catch them. We don’t torture animals and don’t collect cadavers. And no, it doesn’t look like in crime stories.”

“Excuse me, what?”

He chuckled, “Gossips. You wouldn’t believe what kind of shit people tell around about us. Anyway, I don’t plan eating you, (Name)-ya. At least as long as you will work, I have enough clowns on my side of the group.”

“People seriously believe in such things?” **  
**

“And you don’t?” He fixed you with a look. “You were so scared you wouldn’t shake my hand, if I hadn’t called you out.”

“It’s because of your eyes”, you blurred out, your cheeks heating in awkwardness that landed between both of you.

One of his thin eyebrows went high and his gaze almost burned a hole in your chest.

“They look… Creepy”, you explained as he clearly wanted you to elaborate. “As if you wanted to curse me.”

He snorted, almost laughing aloud, “So, satanism in the end?”

“No? Hell, what is that with you and satanism?”

“The closest to satanism I was when we tried to summon a devil as kids”, he said out of blue, completely crushing the distance between the two of you. “Halloween night and too many horror movies.”

“And what?”

“Nothing.” He shrugged and peeked into his cuop. “Except dad gave us a scolding of our lives for ruining a carpet. And then he accidentally set it on fire.” He ended the coffee with two big gulps. “Creepy eyes, huh. That’s new.”

Now it was your turn to raise an eyebrow in a silent question.

“Usually they say they’re pretty. Or intriguing at best. Sorry, I suck at small talk. Want more coffee? It’s quite good for such cheap shit, isn’t it?” **  
**

He indeed wasn’t the best in small talk. Most of the time you were comparing notes there was silence - or only your words spoken, since you relaxed around him. He was a good coworker tho, the best you ever got in college. And his medical knowledge could put to shame all of those uptight and vain medical students you had a bad luck to meet. 

“If those wanna-be quacks knew at least half of what you know, last term would be much more pleasant.” Once again, he seemed to share thoughts with you, as if you jumped into a hive mind. “Looking forward to a good alliance. Have you ever read Sora, by chance?”

That last one caught you off-guard. It wasn’t the first time he slipped into an irrelevant digression, but you would never expect a title of a children comic book out of the lips of someone like him.

“You better read wiki then before you come.” He was already packing.

“Come where?”

“Board game session, Friday night, I’ll mail you an address.”

And then he went, leaving you alone with messy thoughts and notes and mouth almost agape. If back then someone would tell you this was the way you met your best friend, the one you became almost indissoluble with, you would probably laugh. Your opinion on Trafalgar Law didn’t change much, if not you simply found him even weirder. 

But indeed, by the time of term, you two became close like siblings. Somehow. Law had no idea how it happened as well. And if asked, he would just smirk mysteriously and whisper, “Must be satanism.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! If you liked it, I'll really appreciate, if you leave a kudo and/or a comment (*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡
> 
> This was written for a request on my writing tumblr some-piece. I encourage you to visit it, since I'm far more active there. And from time to time I am open for requests ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)


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